Display backlight with improved light coupling and mixing
A display backlight assembly providing improved optical coupling between a solid state light source and a display optical light guide. The assembly includes an optical coupler to couple the solid state light source and display optical light guide together. In addition, the optical coupler may include a light mixing element for improved mixing of the multi-colored or mono-chromatic light produced by the solid state light source.
Latest Lighting Science Group Corporation Patents:
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/694,740, filed on Jun. 28, 2005. The entire disclosure of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/694,740 is incorporated by reference herein.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to a display backlight assembly providing improved coupling and color mixing. More specifically, the present invention relates to a device providing improved coupling and mixing of multi-colored and mono-chromatic light produced by one or more solid state light sources, such as, for example, light emitting diodes (LEDs), such as a resonant cavity light emitting diodes (RCLEDs), super luminescent light emitting diodes (SLEDs), or organic LEDs.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONDisplay technology used in many television and computer applications typically uses a backlight panel or plate for illumination of a display, particularly a liquid crystal display (LCD). For example, LCD displays are commonly used in such exemplary applications as notebook computer displays, computer monitors, wireless cell phones, and flat-panel televisions. The display backlight generally includes a planar light guide configured to spread light from a light source located at an edge or edges of the light guide across the surface of the display.
As such, conventional CCFL display backlight assemblies, such as the one shown in
Disadvantageously, many typical display backlight assemblies include a physical gap between the CCFL and the light guide. Generally, the physical gap is maintained between the two elements because the fluorescent tubes are very thin and fragile (e.g., a 19-inch LCD display includes tubes that are approximately ⅛ of an inch in diameter), and highly susceptible to damage if placed in physical contact with the light guide. Due to the physical gap, however, the emitted light is not efficiently coupled from the CCFL into the light guide.
Like the example shown in
Finally, in general, conventional compact fluorescent light provides a poor color rendition, particularly with respect to the color red and the like. Thin-film transistor (TFT) LCDs have been developed to address the poor color rendition provided by compact fluorescent tubes. These LCDs typically include one or more TFT filters designed to take the white light produced by the CCFL and filter it into red, green, and blue pixels. Next, the TFT corresponding to each of those pixels turns on, off, or partially on to create a single pixel consisting of a combination of the three colors. However, as much as 75% or more of the white light emitted by the CCFL may be lost in the TFT filters.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a display backlight assembly that provides improved coupling and color mixing using an edge-lit arrangement.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to an edge-lit display backlight assembly that improves the coupling and mixing of multi-colored and/or mono-chromatic light produced by a solid state light source. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the display backlight assembly includes a display optical light guide (DOLG) and a solid state light source (SSLS) coupled together by an optical coupler. As used herein, the term “display optical light guide” or “DOLG” is intended to include an optical light guide for use as a backlight to illuminate a visual display, particularly those in computer, television, and cell phone applications. Advantageously, coupling the SSLS to the DOLG eliminates the air gap typically existing between the two elements and provides improved management of the light emitted by the SSLS.
According to the present invention, the optical coupler may include, but is not limited to, an optical index matching gel, an optical index matching gasket, a tapered pre-collimation light guide, a shaped pre-collimation light guide, or an inverse-tapered light guide pre-mixer. Alternatively, the optical coupler may comprise a DOLG panel with one or more of its edges shaped to mate with at least a portion of the SSLS. The optical coupler may be made of cured acrylic resin, cured silicone, or other suitable material for matching indices of refraction.
The edge-lit display backlight assembly according to the present invention provides improved resolution, color rendition, light extraction, and illumination efficiency as compared to conventional TFT-LCD displays, without the need for filters, thus reducing the cost and thickness of the display, and eliminating the light loss associated with the filters.
The SSLS according to an embodiment of the present invention may include one or more multi-colored LEDs. According to an exemplary embodiment, the SSLS includes a plurality of red, green, and blue LEDs arranged in an array, herein referred to as a RGB array. Optionally, the SSLS may include a reflector to direct and manage the light emitted by the RGB array. According to another embodiment of the present invention, an improved color gamut may be provided by using a multi-color LED array including, but not limited to, red, blue, green, amber, and cyan LEDs. One having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that any combination of LEDs may be used in the multi-color LED array. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the multi-color LED array may be arranged in a slotted cavity composed of a reflective material.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the SSLS may include any suitable variety of LED, including, but not limited to a resonant cavity light emitting diode (RCLED), a super luminescent light emitting diodes (SLED), or an organic LED emitting diode.
In addition, the optical coupler may provide for improved color mixing. For example, the optical coupler may include a light dispersing/mixing element, such as, for example a plurality of micro-prisms, capable of efficiently mixing the light emitted by the multi-colored LED array of the SSLS. Such micro-prism dispersers may be composed of glass, acrylic, cured silicone, or other transparent material with suitable index of refraction. Other color uniformity enhancement features can also be incorporated into a reflective coupler by faceting the active surfaces and tuning each of these facets by a multi-order polynomial, aspheric deformation, or Bezier curve. A Bezier curve has control points and weighting factors which can be varied to deform the facet and guide the light accordingly.
The present invention will be more readily understood from the detailed description of preferred embodiments presented below considered in conjunction with the attached drawings, of which:
According to another embodiment of the present invention, an improved color gamut may be provided by using a multi-color LED array including, but not limited to, red, blue, green, amber, and cyan LEDs. One having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that any combination of colors may be used in the multi-color LED array. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the multi-color LED array includes red, green, and blue LEDs. According to another embodiment of the present invention, shown in
As shown in
In addition, the optical coupler 40 also reduces the light lost due to back-reflections between the SSLS 20 and the DOLG 10 (i.e., the loss due to fresnel reflection loss). One having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the fresnel reflection loss at normal incidence is approximated by the following expression:
((nt−ni)/(nt+ni))2
where nt is the index of refraction of the transmitting medium, and
where ni is the index of refraction of the incident medium or layer.
As such, in a conventional arrangement, the DOLG/air interface and the light source/air interface, where the index of air is approximately 1, and the index of the DOLG 10 is approximately 1.5, each produce approximately 4% reflectance loss. According to an embodiment of the present invention, light that meets the TIR condition at the optical coupler 40 is directed back into the DOLG 10, rather than escaping into the air.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the DOLG 10 and SSLS 20 may be optically coupled together using one or more optical couplers 40, such as, for example: an optical index matching gel, a tapered pre-collimation light guide (with and without stepped reflectors), a shaped pre-collimation light guide, or an inverse tapered light guide pre-mixer. Alternatively, any of these embodiments of optical couplers may further comprise one or more micro-prisms or other light dispersers.
ngel=[nhostmaterial+ndopantmaterial]5.
For example, polysiloxanes (silicones) have an index of refraction of 1.40 at 25° C. at a wavelength of 589 nm. Introducing diphenyldimethyl materials into the polysiloxanes produce higher index of refraction copolymers, which may be used to form index bridges and thus reduce fresnel backreflection losses.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the efficiency (η) of the light transferred from the SSLS 20 to the DOLG 10 may be approximated by the following transfer efficiency components: η(geometrical); η(fresnel); and η(angular), wherein η(geometrical) equates to the geometrical loss factor contributing to coupling efficiency; η(fresnel) equates to the fresnel backreflection loss(es); and η(angular) equates to the angular distribution and acceptance mismatch losses.
The overall transfer efficiency from the SSLS 20 to the DOLG 10, denoted as ‘P,’ may be expressed as follows:
P(SSLS)transferred=η(geometrical)*η(fresnel)*η(angular)
where η(geometrical)=area of the DOLG (lightguide) aperture/area of the SSLS (lightsource),
where η(fresnel)=1−R; and
where R is the percentage of light backreflected into the optical coupler, as represented by the following expression:
R=((nlightguide−ncoupler)2)/((nlightguide+ncoupler)2)×100%.
Significant fresnel losses are introduced when the index of refraction (n) of the optical coupler 40 (ncoupler) is equal to the index of refraction of air, such that:
R=((nlightguide−1)2/(nlightguide+1)2×100%
wherein orthogonal incidence by the incoming light is assumed. Light bundles which are off-axis from the normal experience more back reflection loss, and accordingly:
R′=((nlightguide*cos(θi)−ncoupler*cos(θt))/(nlightguide*cos(θi)+ncoupler*cos(θi)) and
η(angular)=1−(cos(θlightguide))m+1
where θi represents the incident angle of light propagation with respect to the surface normal,
where θt represents the transmitted angle of light propagation,
where θlightguide=arcsin(NA),
where m is dependent on the angular distribution of the source, and defined by the following expression:
m=(log(0.5))/(log(cos(θFWHM)/2)); and
where FWHM is the full width at half maximum angle.
Light accepted by the DOLG 10 must have a distribution cosine less than the critical angle of the DOLG 10 in order for total internal reflection to occur. As such, θFWHM is the angle at which the intensity of the SSLS 20 drops to 50%. For example, for a lambertian-type SSLS 20, the angular distribution of the SSLS 20 is near 120° and m=1. Accordingly, it is advantageous to reduce η(angular) through collimation lenses or shaped light guide couplers (described below). Furthermore, collimators may be used as efficient angle-to-area converters, including, for example, collimators of several different geometric configurations, such as tapered cones, parabolas, confocal parabolic concentrators, and confocal elliptical concentrators.
Optionally, as shown in
Furthermore, the tapered pre-collimation light guide 40C provides for improved brightness uniformity at the edges of the DOLG 10. In addition, the tapered pre-collimation light guide 40C increases the useable uniform area of the DOLG 10 for display purposes. For example, in a typical RGB arrangement, the tapered pre-collimation light guide 40C provides efficient color mixing and decreases banding artifacts caused by non-uniform incidences on the dispersing peening arrangement, prisms, holographic elements, or other dispersing means typically used in conventional liquid crystal display (LCD) light guide panels. Advantageously, the angle, length, surface roughness, microstructure, material, index of refraction and/or other characteristics of the tapered pre-collimation light guide 40C may be optimized for specific applications and improved light guide performance.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in
where C(u) represents a Bezier curve where u is a parametric parameter,
where i represents a Bezier curve of order equal to 0,
where n represents the Bezier curve order,
where wi represents a control point weighting parameter,
where Pi represents a control point number, and
where Ni,p(u) represents a normalized basis function.
Accordingly, the curve forms within the bounding control point polygon or complex hull, as follows:
When the shaped pre-collimation light guide 40D is formed using either a 2D Bezier (i.e., a non-uniform rational Bezier spline or a 3D non-uniform rational Bezier spline surface, the light can be guided in such a manner that collimation and directionality are introduced into the beam, as well as controlled randomization of primary color concentrations.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the non-uniform Bezier spline surface may be represented by the following expression:
where S(u,v) represents a non-uniform surface with u,v parametric spatial variables,
where Ni,p represents a Bezier spline basis function in a first direction,
where Nj,q represents a Bezier spline basis function in a second direction,
where Pi,j represent the control points,
where Wi,j represents the control point weight parameters,
where m represents the last Bezier order in the first direction, and
where n represents the last Bezier order in the second direction.
Assuming perfect light propagation (i.e., without dispersion from the SSLS 20), the DOLG 10 is illuminated by color specific squares spaced accordingly, and the light is propagated from one side of the DOLG 10 to the other without dispersion or redirection to a vertical direction (i.e., a direction from which the corresponding panel is illuminated). According to an embodiment of the present invention, the control points and weighting knot vectors may be manipulated to provide a high degree of collimation and directionality in the vertical direction with wide dispersion in the horizontal direction to improve color uniformity.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, in the vertical direction, the Bezier splines are shaped to approximate a confocal parabolic concentrator to efficiently collimate light from the SSLS 20 (e.g., solid state lambertian emitters). Optionally, shaped pre-collimation light guide 40D arranged as Bezier splines may also include perturbations in the control points to increase randomization of the primary light directional propagation. In the horizontal direction the splines take on general forms which disperse light through negative prescriptions and may include local geometric structures to form enhanced skew rays which cross paths with those of alternate color, such that the net effect at the entrance aperture of the DOLG 10 is a white light or a homogeneously randomized multi primary.
Further, the shaped pre-collimation light guide 40D may include contoured edges adapted to mate with the SSLS 20, as described above and shown in
2*(A)=(PI/2)−B
where PI represents the ratio of the circumference and the diameter of an angular circle.
Optionally, the inverse-tapered light guide pre-mixer 40E may include micro-prisms. According to another option, the inverse-tapered light guide 40E may include one or more stepped reflectors 50 on either the upper or lower surface of the inverse-tapered light guide 40E to redirect light propagation paths to homogenously illuminate the DOLG 10 aperture. Optionally, an optical index matching gel 40A may be used to provide additional optical coupling between the interface of the SSLS 20 and the inverse-tapered light guide pre-mixer 40E and/or the interface of the DOLG 10 and the inverse-tapered light guide pre-mixer 40E.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, microprism light dispersants of slightly different refractive index than the host material perturb the direction cosines of incoming light rays. These micro-site light refraction effects can be approximated by a Mie scattering model in which the degree of light path deviation is denoted as (s*r′) where (s) is the scattering vector and (r′) is either the radius or largest aspect parameter of the imbedded micro dispersant, and induce light direction perturbation according to the following expression:
s=2*k*sin(θ/2)
where k is the wavevector influenced by index difference and wavelength, and
where θ is the angle of perturbation induced by refraction and the dissimilar dielectric interface boundary shape. The refractive index ratio m=nparticle/nhost=1+mu, where mu is preferably between 0.005 and 0.025 to achieve high light transfer efficiency with improved color uniformity. The deviation angle induced by the micro-site scatter is approximated by delta=2*[sin−1(h/r′)−sin−1[h/r′*(1+mu)], where (h) is the distance from the normal incident ray passing through the center of the micro-dispersant particle and the actual raypath passing through a chord section of the micro-dispersant. Optionally, the optical coupler 40 is composed of an immersion refractive index gel or clear silicone gasket material.
The micro-prism dispersers 60 re-orient the color-specific light cones emitted from the LED dies to further integrate the combined color contribution of the one or more LED die (labeled R, G, and B in
One having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that with multi-colored LED configurations, a certain color integration length is required to achieve a relatively uniform solid color resulting from the mixture of colors emitted by the multi-colored LEDs, such as, for example, white light. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the micro-prism dispersers 60 are included in the optical coupler 40 to decrease the integration length required. The optical coupler 40 according to this embodiment of the present invention may be an optical index matching gel 40A, a tapered pre-collimation light guide 40C, a shaped pre-collimation light guide 40D, an inverse-tapered light guide pre-mixer 40E, or an optical index matching gasket 40F. One having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the optical couplers may be composed of acrylic, a transparent optical silicone gasket, or other suitable index matching gel material.
According to this embodiment, the light emitted by SSLS 1 and SSLS 2 passes through optical couplers 80A, 80B and illuminates the DOLG 10. However, some of the light may be lost if it is emitted by SSLS 1, couples through the DOLG 10, and is absorbed by SSLS 2, and/or vice versa. To prevent the light loss associated with this absorption, the index of refraction of the optical coupler 40 (labeled as IR1 in
It is to be understood that the exemplary embodiments are merely illustrative of the present invention and that many variations of the above-described embodiments can be devised by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. It is therefore intended that all such variations be included within the scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A display backlight assembly comprising:
- a display optical light guide including a first edge and an opposing second edge;
- an optical coupler proximate the first edge of the display optical light guide, wherein the optical coupler has an index of refraction greater than an index of refraction of the display optical light guide, wherein the optical coupler includes a plurality of micro-prism dispersers at least partially embedded therein, and wherein continuous regions of the optical coupler extend between adjacent micro-prism dispersers;
- a solid state light source proximate the optical coupler and coupled to the first edge of the optical light guide by the optical coupler, wherein the solid slate light source comprises a plurality of individual solid state light sources, and wherein each solid state light source of the plurality of solid state light sources is arranged in approximate alignment with a single micro-prism disperser of the plurality of micro-prism dispersers; and
- a reflective surface disposed at an interface between the solid state light source and the optical coupler to allow for re-entry of light traveling in a direction generally from the second edge to the first edge back into the light guide.
2. The display backlight assembly of claim 1, wherein the optical coupler comprises an optical index matching gel.
3. The display backlight assembly of claim 1, wherein the optical coupler comprises the edge of the display optical light guide shaped to mate with at least a portion of the solid state light source.
4. The display backlight assembly of claim 1, wherein the optical coupler comprises a tapered pre-collimation light guide.
5. The display backlight assembly of claim 4, wherein the tapered pre-collimation light guide has an index of refraction approximately equal to the index of refraction of the display optical light guide.
6. The display backlight assembly of claim 4, wherein the tapered pre-collimation light guide comprises acrylic.
7. The display backlight assembly of claim 4, wherein an optical index matching gel is disposed at an interface of the display optical light guide and the tapered pre-collimation light guide and at an interface of the solid state light source and the tapered pre-collimation light guide.
8. The display backlight assembly of claim 4, wherein the tapered pre-collimation light guide includes one or more stepped reflectors.
9. The display backlight assembly of claim 4, wherein the tapered pre-collimation light guide includes one or more micro-prism dispersers.
10. The display backlight assembly of claim 9, wherein the tapered pre-collimation light guide is composed of a material having a higher index of refraction than the micro-prism dispersers.
11. The display backlight assembly of claim 9, wherein, the tapered pre-collimation light guide is composed of a material having a lower index of refraction than the micro-prism dispersers.
12. The display backlight assembly of claim 1, wherein the optical coupler comprises a non-linear taper pre-collimation light guide.
13. The display backlight assembly of claim 12, wherein the non-linear taper pre-collimation light guide has an index of refraction approximately equal to the index of refraction of the display optical light guide.
14. The display backlight assembly of claim 12, wherein the non-linear taper pre-collimation light guide comprises acrylic.
15. The display backlight assembly of claim 12, wherein an optical index matching gel is disposed at an interface of the display optical light guide and the shaped pre-collimation light guide and at an interface of the solid state light source and the non-linear taper pre-collimation light guide.
16. The display backlight assembly of claim 12, wherein the non-linear taper pre-collimation light guide includes one or more micro-prism dispersers.
17. The display backlight assembly of claim 16, wherein the non-linear taper pre-collimation light guide is composed of a material having a higher index of refraction than the micro-prism dispersers.
18. The display backlight assembly of claim 17, wherein the non-linear taper pre-collimation light guide is composed of a material having a lower index of refraction than the micro-prism dispersers.
19. The display backlight assembly of claim 12, wherein the non-linear taper pre-collimation light guide is shaped to approximate a confocal parabolic concentrator.
20. The display backlight assembly of claim 12, wherein the non-linear taper pre-collimation light guide comprises a non-uniform Bezier spline surface.
21. The display backlight assembly of claim 20, wherein the non-linear Bezier spline surface comprises perturbations to increase randomization of light propagation.
22. The display backlight assembly of claim 12, wherein the non-linear taper pre-collimation light guide is shaped to approximate a confocal elliptical concentrator.
23. The display backlight assembly of claim 1, wherein the optical coupler comprises an inverse-tapered light guide pre-mixer.
24. The display backlight assembly of claim 23, wherein an optical index matching gel is disposed at an interface of the display optical light guide and the inverse-tapered light guide pre-mixer and at an interface of the solid state light source and the inverse-tapered light guide pre-mixer.
25. The display backlight assembly of claim 23, wherein the inverse-tapered light guide pre-mixer includes one or more micro-prism dispersers.
26. The display backlight assembly of claim 25, wherein the inverse-tapered light guide pre-mixer is composed of a material having a higher index of refraction than the micro-prism dispersers.
27. The display backlight assembly of claim 25, wherein the inverse-tapered light guide pre-mixer is composed of a material having a lower index of refraction than the micro-prism dispersers.
28. The display backlight assembly of claim 1, wherein the optical coupler comprises an optical index matching gasket.
29. The display backlight assembly of claim 28, wherein the optical index matching gasket comprises silicone.
30. The display backlight assembly of claim 28, wherein the optical index matching gasket includes one or more micro-prism dispersers embedded therein.
31. The display backlight assembly of claim 30, wherein the optical index matching gasket is composed of a material having a higher index of refraction than the micro-prism dispersers.
32. The display backlight assembly of claim 30, wherein the optical index matching gasket is composed of a material having a lower index of refraction than the micro-prism dispersers.
33. The display backlight assembly of claim 28, wherein the optical index matching gasket is removable.
34. The display backlight assembly of claim 1, wherein the solid state light source comprises a light emitting diode (LED) array.
35. The display backlight assembly of claim 34, wherein the LED array comprises LEDs of at least two different colors.
36. The display backlight assembly of claim 35, wherein the LED array comprises one or more of red, green, cyan, amber and blue LEDs.
37. The display backlight assembly of claim 1, wherein the solid state light source comprises a reflector.
38. The display backlight assembly of claim 1, wherein the solid state light source comprises an array of LEDs disposed in a slotted cavity.
39. The display backlight assembly of claim 38, wherein the slotted cavity comprises a reflective surface.
40. The display backlight assembly of claim 39, wherein the reflective surface comprises a metal film, a metal paint, or a highly reflective polymer.
41. The display backlight assembly of claim 1, wherein the reflective surface is conformly disposed on the solid state light source.
42. The display backlight assembly of claim 1, wherein indices of refraction of the micro-prism dispersers are each greater than the index of refraction of the optical coupler.
43. The display backlight assembly of claim 1, wherein indices of refraction of the micro-prism dispersers are each lower than the index of refraction of the optical coupler.
44. The display backlight assembly of claim 1, wherein at least one micro-prism disperser has an index of refraction greater than the index of refraction of the optical coupler, and wherein at least one micro-prism disperser has an index of refraction lower than the index of refraction of the optical coupler.
45. A display backlight assembly comprising:
- a display optical light guide comprising a first edge and an opposing second edge;
- a first solid state light source coupled to the first edge of the display optical light guide by a first optical coupler, wherein the first optical coupler has an index of refraction greater than that of the display optical light guide; and
- a second solid state light source coupled to the second edge of the display optical light guide by a second optical coupler, wherein the second optical coupler has an index of refraction greater than that of the display optical light guide;
- wherein at least one of the first solid state light source and the second solid state light source has a reflective surface disposed at an interface between the respective light source and the associated optical coupler to allow for re-entry of light traveling toward the interface from within the light guide back into the light guide; and wherein, the first solid state light source and the second solid state light source comprise a plurality of individual solid state light sources, the first optical coupler and the second optical coupler include a plurality of micro-prism dispersers embedded therein, continuous regions of the optical coupler extend between adjacent micro-prism dispersers, and each micro-prism disperser of the plurality of micro-prism dispersers of each of the first and second optical couplers is arranged in approximate alignment with a single solid state light source of the plurality of solid state light sources of each of the first and second solid state light sources.
46. The display backlight assembly of claim 45, wherein the first and second solid state light sources include opposing reflective surfaces.
47. The display backlight assembly of claim 46, wherein the reflective surfaces comprise a metal film, a metal paint, or a highly reflective polymer.
48. The display backlight assembly of claim 45, wherein the first optical coupler comprises an optical index matching gel.
49. The display backlight assembly of claim 45, wherein the first optical coupler comprises an optical index matching gasket.
50. The display backlight assembly of claim 45, wherein the first optical coupler comprises a tapered pre-collimation light guide.
51. The display backlight assembly of claim 45, wherein the first optical coupler comprises a non-linear taper pre-collimation light guide.
52. The display backlight assembly of claim 45, wherein the first optical coupler comprises an inverse-tapered light guide pre-mixer.
53. The display backlight assembly of claim 45, wherein the first optical coupler comprises silicone.
54. The display backlight assembly of claim 45, wherein an optical index matching gel is disposed at respective interfaces of the first optical coupler, the display optical light guide, and the first solid state light source.
55. The display backlight assembly of claim 45, wherein the reflective surface is conformly disposed on the respective solid state light source.
56. The display backlight assembly of claim 45, wherein indices of refraction of the micro-prism dispersers are each greater than the index of refraction of the optical coupler.
57. The display backlight assembly of claim 45, wherein indices of refraction of the micro-prism dispersers are each lower than the index of refraction of the optical coupler.
58. The display backlight assembly of claim 45, wherein at least one micro-prism disperser has an index of refraction greater than the index of refraction of the optical coupler, and wherein at least one micro-prism disperser has an index of refraction lower than the index of refraction of the optical coupler.
4903172 | February 20, 1990 | Schoniger et al. |
5050946 | September 24, 1991 | Hathaway et al. |
5217811 | June 8, 1993 | Filas et al. |
5581876 | December 10, 1996 | Prabhu et al. |
5725808 | March 10, 1998 | Tormey et al. |
5883684 | March 16, 1999 | Millikan et al. |
5953203 | September 14, 1999 | Tormey et al. |
6270831 | August 7, 2001 | Kumar et al. |
6274890 | August 14, 2001 | Oshio et al. |
6455930 | September 24, 2002 | Palanisamy et al. |
6518502 | February 11, 2003 | Hammond et al. |
6536909 | March 25, 2003 | Azorin |
6805456 | October 19, 2004 | Okuwaki |
6854854 | February 15, 2005 | Hoelen et al. |
7098483 | August 29, 2006 | Mazzochette et al. |
7163331 | January 16, 2007 | Suzuki et al. |
7172319 | February 6, 2007 | Holder et al. |
7217025 | May 15, 2007 | Kim et al. |
7235817 | June 26, 2007 | Yano et al. |
7293906 | November 13, 2007 | Mok et al. |
20030049007 | March 13, 2003 | Sommers et al. |
20030219207 | November 27, 2003 | Guy |
20040043693 | March 4, 2004 | Ohkubo et al. |
20040066645 | April 8, 2004 | Graf et al. |
20040071437 | April 15, 2004 | Tamura et al. |
20040109306 | June 10, 2004 | Lee |
20040246744 | December 9, 2004 | Krupa et al. |
20050007756 | January 13, 2005 | Yu et al. |
20050063187 | March 24, 2005 | Weng et al. |
20050093146 | May 5, 2005 | Sakano |
20050121686 | June 9, 2005 | Keller et al. |
20060158901 | July 20, 2006 | Wang |
20060285356 | December 21, 2006 | Tseng |
20070007558 | January 11, 2007 | Mazzochette |
20070158674 | July 12, 2007 | Taguchi et al. |
20070189007 | August 16, 2007 | Nishimoto et al. |
WO 2005015646 | February 2005 | WO |
WO-2006/132174 | December 2006 | WO |
Type: Grant
Filed: Jun 23, 2006
Date of Patent: Dec 20, 2011
Patent Publication Number: 20070081360
Assignee: Lighting Science Group Corporation (Satellite Beach, FL)
Inventors: Edward Bailey (Westampton, NJ), Joseph B. Mazzochette (Cherry Hill, NJ), Andrew Beregszaszi (Philadelphia, PA), Robert J Burdalski (Lumberton, NJ)
Primary Examiner: Robert May
Attorney: Cantor Colburn LLP
Application Number: 11/474,187
International Classification: H01R 33/00 (20060101);